Ian Naveira charged with impersonating a police officer

Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LANTANA, Fla. - A man wearing a holster and flashing a badge that said 'investigator' has been arrested by Lantana police and charged with impersonating an officer.

Investigators say that they were called to the Super 8 Motel Tuesday night after a couple staying there reported a suspicious person who came to their room and entered it uninvited after they answered a knock at the door.

Police say that the couple, described as a boyfriend and girlfriend, told them the man, later identified as Ian Naveira, was wearing a tactical police-type vest, a baseball cap with a badge and a holster on his hip. They also say he identified himself as police.

According to a probable cause affidavit, they say Naveira accused them of being involved in illegal activities. The couple became suspicious and said they planned to call police.

Investigators say that Naveira then fled and the boyfriend chased him and fought with him in the parking lot.

The girlfriend told police that she was on probation for a drug violation and had worked as an escort and had an ad indicating that she was at the motel.

Naveira told officers that he went to the room earlier in the night and gave the woman $80 for sex.

The boyfriend, according to Naveira, then entered the room, took the money and sent him away.

Naveira said that made him mad and he decided to take his dad's uniform to get his money back.

Naveira's father is an investigator with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to the affidavit and conducts investigations for the agency. The father also told investigators that he owns government-issued vests and a hat.

Lantana police say that the vests had the words "USDA Investigator" on it.

Investigators say Naveira told them he thought the uniform would "be protection against anything bad happening to him," but that he denied ever saying he was police officer.

Naveira was booked with no bond and charged with impersonating a police officer.

Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.